Tag: nigel

How popular is the baby name Nigel in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, see baby names similar to Nigel and check out all the blog posts that mention the name Nigel.

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The source is the long-forgotten short story “Company for the Milkman” by Florence Leighton Pfalzgraf. It was published in various newspapers in 1936.

The protagonist is 24-year-old working girl Thayle. She wants to settle down, but first has to choose between two suitors: Nigel “Nig” Duffield (who’s poor, but perfect for her) and Malvern “Mal” Kay (who’s wealthy, but a bad match).

“I don’t mean to offend you, Nig. But — but I’m tired of my tuppenny job. I hate the real estate office, that cold iron typewriter. I don’t want to work after I’m married.”

She nearly marries Mal, but of course there’s a twist (involving a milkman) and she ends up with Nig.

The only thought-provoking thing about this story? The nickname “Nig.” I suspect the author wanted it pronounced “Nige” (long I, soft G–as in Nigel). So why did she leave off the E so that it rhymes with “pig” (or Twig)? Weird omission.

But combining spellings isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. For instance, if “Amelia” is combined with “Emilia” (which is actually in the Emily family) then why wasn’t “Alivia” combined with “Olivia”? That would boost Olivia/Alivia into the #1 spot. And should “Eva” go with “Ava,” since they’re occasionally pronounced the same way…?

Here are some names from the other end of the rankings, each used just five times in 2015:

Here’s something I haven’t seen before: a baby named after an elevator.

In early July, Melissa Cavanagh of England gave birth to a baby girl in a broken-down elevator, where she had been stuck for 45 minutes along with per partner, Paul Yeomans, and three paramedics.

Emergency care assistant Nigel Goodman, who was part of the ambulance crew trapped in the lift, said: “When it was all over, I remember saying to Melissa and Paul that they should call her Ella, short for elevator – and they have!”

Ella’s middle name, Nicola, is in honor of one of the other paramedics, Nikki Wildman.

The male names below appeared in the Open Domesday database just once, except where noted. (For the record, I overlooked entries in which one person’s name was used to refer to another person, e.g., “Aelfric’s uncle.”)

The most-mentioned name within each letter group is in bold.

If you make it all the way to the bottom, your reward is a top ten list. :)

Though the names in the book aren’t necessarily representative of name usage in England overall, it does make sense than William took the top spot. The Domesday Book was created a couple of decades after the Norman Invasion, at a time when the name William was very fashionable, thanks to William the Conqueror.